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Tales of the San Francisco Peninsula
by
Theron G. Cady
A series of articles first published in 'Peninsula Life Magazine'
Published by C-T Publishers, San Carlos, California, 1948

        That the City of San Mateo which was incorporated September 4, 1894, covers an area of nearly ten square miles or 6,414 acres . . . The lighthouse located at Pigeon Point was completed in 1872 . . . Dr. David Starr Jordan, the first President of Stanford University was a "Hoosier," having come from Bloomington, Indiana . . . The W.P. Fuller and Company, paint manufacturers of South San Francisco, was established in 1898 . . . The first public school in Belmont was built in 1861 . . .
        Santa Clara County was once known as the land of "Llano de los Robles" (Plain of the Oaks) . . . Daly City at the northern end of San Mateo County owes its very existence to the San Francisco fire and earthquake of 1906 . . . California's largest camellia tree, thirty feet high, stands at Villa Montlave, foothill estate of the late Senator James D. Phelan, near Saragtoga . . . The name "Milpitas" means "little crops" . . .
        William Clark was the first American to settle in the city of Santa Clara in 1846 . . . The first Methodist Sunday School of the coastside was organized through the efforts of James Hatch, J.P. Johnston and others . . . In the early 70's land could be purchsed in and around Half Moon Bay for as little as $60 an acre . . .
        The Ames Aeronautical Laboratory adjoining Moffett Field, was built on a 100-acre tract at a cost of $10,000,000.  The gigantic $7,200,000 wind tunnel which tests full-sized planes, covers ten acres of ground, is 900 feet long, 400 feet wide, and rises to a maximum height of 200 feet . . .
        That Thomas Johnston who helped drive 800 head of cattle from Ohio to Half Moon Bay opened a grocery store in that town in 1868 . . . Jacob Downing who came from New York in the early days set up a shop for the manufacture of wagons and carriages in Half Moon Bay . . .
        Rufus Hatch, father of Supervisor Alvin Hatch, came to Half Moon Bay in January, 1855.  He spent his first night at the residence of Thomas Johnston . . . The first school and first religious worship among Americans were established at Purisima . . . The present Catholic Church in Half Moon Bay was built in 1883 . . .
        Half Moon Bay is the center of a rich agricultural area and the largest town on the coastside . . . in 1872 the population of Half Moon Bay was estimated at about 400  . . .  Amesport Wharf at Miramar was built in 1868.  It was originally 1,000 feet in lenghth . . .  Henry Bidwell who opened the first tavern in Half Moon Bay was also the town's first postmaster . . . According to 1870 census figures the Fifth Township of San Mateo County was the most populous in the county . . . Half Moon Bay is named after the crescent-shaped body of water which stretches from Pillar Point on the north to the mouth of the Arroyo Canyada Verde on the south.  It is the largest bay on the coastside . . .
        During the early days many grizzly bears and mountain lions were killed in the vicinity of Half Moon Bay . . . In the 1850's Dr. W.D. Church was perhaps the best-known physician on the coastside . . . Judge John Pitcher, who for years was justice of the peace in Half Moon Bay, held that office until he was ninety years of age . . . Half Moon Bay was the first locality in San Mateo County to organize a military company.  It was known as the Half Moon Bay Invincibles and had some sixty members . . . James Denniston, who lived on a ranch north of Half Moon Bay in the early days, was one of the richest men in the community . . .
        That Peter B. Kyne, famous author, grew to manhood in the little town of Montara near Half Moon Bay . . . He never attended any school but the one conducted on the hillside by Miss Rose H. Meehan . . . Charles Kelly built his store in Half Moon Bay in 1856 . . . William Pringle was Half Moon Bay's first harnesmaker.  He later served as Justice of the Peace for many years . . . M.A. Halstead was the first to engage in manufacturing in Half Moon Bay.  He built his grist mill in the spring of 1860 . . . R.I. Knapp, who established a plow factory in Half Moon Bay in the '70s became famous because of his reversible plow for use on hillsides . . . Edward Schubert entered the brewery business in Half Moon Bay in 1873 . . . Samual Walker operated the first drug store in town and Robert Rawles, better known as "Buckskin Bob," drove the state in and out of town . . . The first master of Haywards Lodge No. 226 Free and Accespted Masons was Henry E. Lea and J.P. Johnston was the first secretary . . .
        That James F. Payne was the first to introduce the walnut in Santa Clara County in 1875 . . . Today the acreage is something over 7,000 . . . The largest of its kind in North America is the $5,000,000 cement plant located at Monte Vista, Santa Clara County.  This plant, erected in the almost unbeleivable time of five months, has a daily output of nearly 7,000 barrels . . .
        The first municipal lighting system in Redwood City was installed in 1889 . . . The Southern Pacific Railroad which runs the length of the Peninsula, hauls more fresh fruits and vegetables than any other railroad in the United States . . . Tanforan Race Track was named for a member of the Tanfaran family which had inherited a small part of the Buri Buri ranch . . .
        When stage coaches ran between San Francisco and San Jose the fare was $32 and the trip required nine hours . . . Saratoga, world famous for its annual Blossom Festival, is known as the "Gateway" to Big Basin . . .
        The New Almaden Mines near San Jose produced more quicksilver than any other mine in the world . . . In 1852, Mountain View consisted of but one stage hand . . . Prof. John J. Montgomery of Santa Clara University was the first human to fly in a heavier-than-air glider in 1883 . . . The town of Campbell is named in honor of Benjamin Campbell who cut up 167 acres of his property into small farms and sold them to the early settlers . . . Campbell is now known as the "Orchard City" . . .  Sunnyvale was called "The City of Destiny" by its founders.
        The small town of Los Altos is known as the "Commuters' Paradise" . . . Redwood City's first sidewalk was laid on Broadway from the creek to the courthouse in 1869 . . . The City of San Mateo has an elevation of only twenty-two feet . . . The Sequoia Union High School District, organized in 1895, was the first in San Mateo County . . . Los Gatos "Gem City of the Foothills," shares with Assuan, Egypt, the first prize for the world's most equable climate, according to a great English medical authority . . . The enormous hangar at Moffett Field is 1,133 feet in lenght, 338 feet wide, and eighteen stories high . . .
        Back in the days when livestock was permitted to roam wild about Redwood City, the grounds of the first courthouse had to be fenced to keep the livestock from absconding with the county's shrubbery . . . Arthur Annis, Brisbane's first successful promoter, named the town after Arthur Brisbane, famous columnist for the Hearst Publications . . . During the World's Fair the walks on Treasure Island were lined with olive trees from the famous olive orchard of Jose Ramon Arguello, now known as the Quinto Ranch.  The orchard was planted in 1865 . . .